


Your Breath in My Lungs

by vaskianmountains



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, References to Damen’s Fun Childhood Adventures with Nikandros, References to Kastor, starts out angsty but ends pretty fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24678421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vaskianmountains/pseuds/vaskianmountains
Summary: Damen has a nightmare while he is still recovering from his wound, and wakes up with a panic attack. Laurent helps him through it.
Relationships: Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 124





	Your Breath in My Lungs

**Author's Note:**

> This was also posted to my tumblr [here](https://vaskianmountains.tumblr.com/post/620655845813927936/your-breath-in-my-lungs)

Damen tried to breathe, but no matter how much air he tried to suck in, there still wasn’t enough of it.

He knew his eyes were open, but all he was able to see was the image of Kastor from his dream. They had been sparring, and then Kastor had stabbed him. As Damen had tried to register what had happened, Kastor had grown older right in front of him. When Damen had been thirteen, Kastor had immediately let go of his sword and yelled for help. But in his dream, this older Kastor had strengthened his grip on the sword and pressed it even further into Damen’s stomach.

“Damianos,” a voice said beside him.

He tried to turn, but a pain shot through him, making it even more difficult to breath. He brought his hand to the wound that Kastor had dealt him a week ago. The last thing Kastor had ever done before Laurent had fought him and struck him down.

“Damianos,” Laurent said again.

The covers were pulled off him, and a hand turned his face to the side. “It’s alright,” Laurent said. “You’re awake now.”

Laurent’s voice helped to pull him further out of his dream. He was able to recognize now that he wasn’t lying on the ground of the training arena, but in bed with Laurent right at his side.

“Damianos, you need to breath.”

“—can’t,” Damen bit out. He wondered whether maybe this was it, that despite Paschal’s best efforts his wound had become infected, and that these were his last moments.

“You’re panicking,” Laurent said. He sat up on the bed and started rearranging several of the pillows. Then he helped Damen up to sit against them. Laurent took both of Damen’s hands in his own and said, “Try to match my breathing. Inhale through your nose and out through your mouth.”

Damen watched Laurent, and as his chest rose, Damen inhaled as well. He sucked in the air too quickly and forced himself to hold his breath until Laurent exhaled as well. However, after some more breaths he was able to match Laurent’s relatively well.

“Are you alright?” Laurent asked.

“Yes,” Damen said. “I just—” There has been a lot of blood in his dream when Kastor had driven his sword into Damen. A week ago there also had been a lot of blood when Kastor had stabbed him. And not far from where Damen had been lying on the ground there had been a lot of blood pooling beneath Kastor’s body too.

“Damianos.” Laurent squeezed his hands. “Keep matching my breath.”

Damen forced himself to slow his breathing again, and he focused on the rhythm of Laurent’s rising and falling chest.

“Do you remember the story you told me yesterday?” Laurent asked. “About how you and Nikandros hid away in these chambers when they were still your father’s?”

Damen nodded.

”Will you tell me again?”

“Why?”

Laurent smiled. “Because I liked hearing it.”

“Okay,” Damen said and he began telling Laurent again of how he and Nikandros had stolen from the kitchens when they had been children. “It was the day before the festival of the first harvest. Every year, the cooks prepare a special pastry made from the first new grain and fresh summer fruits. They always used to be my favorite as a child, but they only make them once a year and are only to be eaten on the day of the festival.

“One year I managed to convince Nikandros to help me steal some from the kitchens the day before the festival. He didn’t think it was a good idea, but I also think he knew that if he didn’t help me, I was going to try and get them on my own anyway. I was lucky he did decide to help, because when I tried to get them off the shelf, I wasn’t able to reach them. I always used to be taller than Nik, but he had hit his growth spurt earlier than me, so at that time he was a few inches taller, just enough that he was able to reach the pastries. After we had as many as we thought we would be able to eat, we took them with us to my father’s chambers. I expected that to be the last place where they would look for us.”

“And how many of them did you eat, again?” Laurent asked.

Damen laughed. “We ate all of the ones we had taken except for one. We still tried to eat it, but by then our stomachs were so full they hurt, and we couldn’t bear to swallow any more.”

Laurent was smiling too. “Were you able to still eat them the next day during the actual festival, or did just the sight of them make you nauseous by then?”

“We made ourselves eat from them,” Damen told Laurent again, “because we knew that if we didn’t, they’d immediately figure out that we had been the ones who had stolen some of them the day before. Still, looking back, I think our lack of excitement for them was enough to clue everyone in.”

“Were you at least able to enjoy them during later years again?”

“Yes,” Damen said. “Every year, I look still forward to them. I’m just never going to get Nik to steal them from the kitchens with me again.” He rubbed his thumbs over Laurent’s hands. “I think you would like them too. They’re very sweet.”

“I would love to try them.” Laurent’s smile curled up into a grin. “Maybe you could feed them to me like you did in Nesson.”

Damen was reminded of the warm breath against his fingertips, followed by the softness of his lips. It had been the first time Damen had thought there might be a sensual side to Laurent. The memories stirred a warmth to life inside Damen.

Laurent kissed him, but pulled away far too quickly. “Paschal was very adamant that you should not be doing any strenuous activity yet, remember?”

Sometimes, Damen doubted whether Paschal actually knew enough to be a qualified physician.

“Do you think you’ll be able to sleep again?” Laurent asked.

Damen could still clearly recall his nightmare, but the panic had receded now. As he looked at Laurent, he also knew that there were other dreams waiting for him that were far more pleasant. “Yes,” Damen said. “If you hold me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this.
> 
> Comments and Kudos always make my day 💖


End file.
